Actual historic finds have been few: a bronze coin of Licinius I (AD307-324) found behind the Bird in Hand, a mediaeval lead spindlewhorl, four 17th cent. swords found in a house cellar, and a cannon ball.

A church was probably built in the 12th or 13th cent. The earliest register of births, marriages and deaths dates back to 1595; the Achdeacon’s corrections Books, recording the proceedings of church courts, refer to “Edward Dutton and Margaret his wife” beng absent from church in 1673 and the churchwardens’ accounts reveal that 10s 6d (52.5p) purchased a coffin for Joseph Joynson in 1744.

In the mid 18th cent, the parish consisted of 12 farm houses and eight cottages. Always an agricultural community, the parish had the services of a man to prevent cattle straying. The church was much damaged by a great storm in 1802 and was rebuilt. By 1810, the village was growing and had 24 houses and 120 people, increasing to 42 houses and 234 people 60 years later, including farmers, a blacksmith, a tile and brick maker, two boot and shoe makers, a painter and a bricklayer.

The Methodist Chapel was built in 1873, the original village school in 1891, and the present church hall in 1916.

By the 1930s, the village had grown to 404 people with electricity having arrived in 1925. Piped water did not extend to the main part of the village until 1945, and gas not until 1968. In 1951, part of a neighbouring area was transfered to Guilden Sutton, adding a further 209 inhabitants. Further new housing was added on a modest scale during the next 15 years, but plans were then drawn up for a large scale expansion which, now completed, has taken the village to its present size.

In 1964, the Rev H A Clarke said in his history of the parish “Owing to the mechanisation of agriculture, the proportion who work on the land is very small indeed. It is in fact a dormitory village .... it is still rural but it is no longer an agricultural community as it was for many centuries. It will certainly grow in years to come but let us hope it does not cease to feel like an English village”.

A third of a century on, the same can be said.         

The following miscellaneous historical references have links to, or are about, Guilden Sutton.  (Perhaps, somebody, somewhere, may find them interesting....)

Old map An interesting map of Guilden Sutton (circa 1881) can be found here.

from:  The Report of The Charity Commissioners 1836

The Parish of Guilden Sutton :   Annual payment of 6shillings (30p) to the poor out of the parish-rates, which is supposed to be the interest of a legacy of £6 applied to the repairs of the church many years ago.  It is distributed with the sacrament-money in small sums at Easter.        [Donor unknown]

from:  "Cheshire History" No 36 : 1996 - 1997,
published by Cheshire Local History Association

'A Poor School' ... Guilden Sutton Church of England Elementary School, 1882 - 1907
an article by Jackie Turton

Roman encampments in Guilden Sutton
(from: http://www.morgue.demon.co.uk/Pages/Gazetteer/ENGM.HTM)

Guilden Sutton SJ4568	Temporary camp, see also Hoole Philpott, R. A., Britannia XXIX, 1998, pp p341-353
SJ4367	Temporary camp, see also Hoole Philpott, R. A., Britannia XXIX, 1998, pp p341-353
SJ4467	Temporary camp, see also Hoole Philpott, R. A., Britannia XXIX, 1998, pp p341-353
Hoole SJ4267	Temporay camp, close to the Guilden Sutton group Philpott, R. A., Britannia XXIX, 1998, pp p341-353

More information about Roman temporary marching camps on sites now occupied bt Belle Vue Farm, Cinder Lane and at Piper's Ash can be found at http://www.roman-britain.org/places/guilden_sutton.htm

The Early Neolithic of the Carden region (c 4300-3000 BC)
(from:  http://www.setea.freeserve.co.uk/neo.html)

Refers to a Neolithic axehead found in Guilden Sutton

Listed buildings
There are only 3 listed buildings in Guilden Sutton:

Hill Farmhouse, Wicker Lane - Grade II

Church of St John the Baptist, Church Lane - Grade II

Sundial in the Churchyard of St John the Baptist, Church Lane - Grade II

The Regional Environmental Sustainable Tourism Plan (RESTP) V2.8 August 2002 developed under European RECITE II, noted in its Appendices that "Hill Farmhouse is the most significant historic building in the parish".  (NOTE: This starts with a 1.47Mbyte pdf file, requiring Acrobat Reader, and might take several minutes to download - you have been warned!)

St John's Church - Registers of Baptisms/Burials/Marriages
The following records are can be read on microfilm in the Archives and Local Studies Section at Manchester Central Library and in the Cheshire Record Office: